The Russian Defense Ministry said it destroyed in Tchortkiv, 140 km from the Romanian border. a large stockpile of anti-tank missile systems, man-portable air defense systems and shells supplied to the Kiev regime by the United States and European countries
.
The Russian army did not specify when the attack took place, which was carried out using cruise missiles launched from the sea.According to local Ukrainian authorities, this small town in the west of the country, a zone largely spared from the war, was shot on Saturday night by met four rockets
. At least 22 people, including civilians, were reportedly injured in the attack and a military compound was partially destroyed.
In the east, on the front line, where the Russian offensive has been intensifying for several days, the Ukrainian Presidency reported in the morning constant artillery attacks and bombardments on Sievierodonetsk and neighboring villages
.
The city’s capture would open the way to another major city, Kramatorsk in Moscow, a stage in the conquest of the entire Donbass Basin, a primarily Russian-speaking region partially held by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
The situation in Sievierodonetsk is extremely difficult
recognized on Telegram messaging Sergei Gaïdaï, the Ukrainian governor of the region.
The attackers want lock down the city completely
and to prevent any passage of men and ammunition, he added, saying he feared the enemy would launch all his reserves to take the city
within 48 hours.
On Saturday, Mr. Gaïdaï realized that the Russians were controlling most likely
70% of the city, while Leonid Passetchnik, leader of the pro-Russian separatist Lugansk region, admitted to having stumbled over control the industrial area
.
This is a chemical industry site
underlined Mr. Passetchnik. Our main goal is to clear the territory of Ukrainian fighters without causing an environmental disaster.
On Saturday evening, Mr Gaïdaï said a fire was raging at the site of the Azot chemical plant, a target of the Russian army. On Sunday afternoon, however, we did not know what the situation was like on site.
Further south, in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian Presidency reiterated this the Russians increased their efforts to destroy critical infrastructure
.
According to Moscow, the Russian army shot down three Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets between Saturday morning and Sunday morning, two in dogfights and the third by anti-aircraft fire.
At the other end of the front line, in Mikolaiv, a major port on the Dnieper estuary to the south, the Russian advance has been halted on the outskirts, according to a team of AFP journalists on the square.
A great challenge
At the diplomatic level, after Kyiv promised an answer the day before until the end of next week
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, acknowledged Ukraine’s request to start the process of joining the European Union The challenge would be to emerge from the European Council scheduled for June 23-24 with a unified position that meets an historic challenge
.
I hope that 20 years from now, when we look back, we can say that we did the right thing
she said on Sunday in Warsaw.
Ukraine has achieved great things in the last ten years and there is still much to be done. Our opinion will carefully reflect this
she said about the recommendation on Ukraine’s candidacy, which the Commission will prepare for the next European Council.
The path to the European Union is well known
She added. It’s performance driven.
Ukraine requires a legal obligation
to gain official EU candidate status as soon as possible, but the 27 are very divided on this issue.
For Ukraine would be candidate status a starting point
which led to a long process of negotiations and reforms, Zelensky acknowledged.
We will work even harder on all levels to make the right decision. She is very important to us
said the Ukrainian President in a video message on Saturday evening.